Epi Valve Jr Head Mods...so far, so good...

[oldguy]

After replacing the tubes in my V.Jr head in November, I kept getting the itch to do something else to it. So I ordered a Hammond 125DSE output transformer. The Hammond is larger than the stock OT, plus it's wired for 5K impedance, which is much closer to what the EL84 tube likes than the stock 7.5K transformer that comes with it. $32.00. I pulled the chassis out of the amp, wired in the Hammond, did a little wire tie cleanup, and put it back together. It helped the sound quite a bit. I think I'll change a few resistors out and see if it "opens up" the sound as much as the "mod squad" guys say.

[M29]

Hello oldguy,

Do you mind telling where you got he Hammond OT? I think I am going to go this way and maybe put a VJ in layaway for a while.

Oh also did you get any more speaker taps? 4/8/16?

Thanks oldguy

M29

[oldguy]

M29,
I bought the Hammond from STF electronics.com. Pat Bunn will answer your e-mails quick and professionally, and the service I got was great.
Speaker taps, no, you still end up with one each of 4,8, and 16 ohm.
You do have to solder the new leads to the speaker out PCB inside, and add two spade connectors for terminal T3 and T4 on the trace board, took me about an hour, but I'm always trying not to tear something up, so I work kinda slow.

[M29]

Thanks oldguy, I was not aware that the VJ had 4/8/ and 16 to begin with. That is good.

Take care
M29

[oldguy]

M29,
The 3 outputs for speaker are only on the head version. If you buy the combo you can add outputs, but it is a little more involved. That's why I got the head version. I've changed some resistors and lifted one leg on the C3 cap and the amp's really starting to open up and sing. I still need to balance the bias on the tubes, and reduce the heater voltages some, which are usually a bit hot as far I can tell. It seems the Valve Jr., while built on a budget from the factory, can be made into a good little screamer for around another $50 if one wants to do some mods and spend the time tweaking it. I'm still learning, but I'll keep you posted as I go if you're interested. HB's are still a little boomy, but single coils are sounding pretty nice at this point.
BTW, DuhVoodooMan's ZYS now makes this thing scream if you're into high gain or boost sounds.
IMHO, all pedals are sounding better w/ it now.

[M29]

Hello oldguy,

Yes please keep me up on this. I have been looking at building a Champ from scratch but considering a VJ instead so any info will be helpful. I know there is going to be additional money going into the VJ but a little at a time is not bad to have a nice tube screamer. I have two 16 ohm Tonkers in separate cabs which I would be able to use individually or both in parallel with these speaker taps which gives me some versatility.

Thanks again oldguy.

M29

[Tone2TheBone]

Man...I sure wish I had one of those ZYS pedals!



Glenn why don't you post a clip or two of your new mods using the infamous Yellow Zonkin'.

[oldguy]

Which guitar should I use, Tone? (Assuming I can find time?)

[Tone2TheBone]

Which guitar should I use, Tone? (Assuming I can find time?)

Your Tele...on the neck pup. Zonkin' set for nice OD. If you please.

[oldguy]

Your Tele...on the neck pup. Zonkin' set for nice OD. If you please.

Surprise, surprise!
The voicing on the VJ is still a bit dark, is it cheating if I dial up the treble a bit to compensate for that? Or would a bridge HB'er on another axe suffice?

[Tone2TheBone]

Surprise, surprise!
The voicing on the VJ is still a bit dark, is it cheating if I dial up the treble a bit to compensate for that? Or would a bridge HB'er on another axe suffice?

No no...turn up the tone knob on the pedal for more treble. I live on single coil neck pups! I wanna hear the new mods in this manner with the ZYS....if you don't mind.

[Justaguyin_nc]

After replacing the tubes in my V.Jr head in November, I kept getting the itch to do something else to it. So I ordered a Hammond 125DSE output transformer. The Hammond is larger than the stock OT, plus it's wired for 5K impedance, which is much closer to what the EL84 tube likes than the stock 7.5K transformer that comes with it. $32.00. I pulled the chassis out of the amp, wired in the Hammond, did a little wire tie cleanup, and put it back together. It helped the sound quite a bit. I think I'll change a few resistors out and see if it "opens up" the sound as much as the "mod squad" guys say.

The Price on the Hammonds are going up.. cheapest I can find and get is about 37.99 - 49.99 shipped... ANGELA INSTRUMENTS on ebay... just a heads up.. I assume now this would make this amp rated at 10 watts or is more needed to achive the 10 watt rating? now to get the other parts...

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...&fsop=1&fsoo=1

[F_BSurfer]

For a lower cost output transformer you can try this one I used it in my combo

http://www.musicalpowersupplies.com/2.html